A Federal childcare program is locked down in Summit County, after a round of “well-meaning” rule changes gutted state funding.
The Colorado Childcare Assistance Program, or C-CAP, is facing a $45 million shortfall this year, according to Summit County commissioner Tamara Pogue.
Up to six new families apply every week in Summit. None of them can be accepted.
“Counties are struggling to pay for the families who need to access C-CAP,” Pogue tells Krystal 93 news director Phil Lindeman. “The state is not reimbursing (…) there is no question this is an incredible burden on working families.”
Call it the shortfall domino effect. C-CAP is a Federal program implemented by Colorado, which relies on counties to manage enrollment. When the Feds created a new fee schedule the state was caught off guard – and counties were stuck with the bill.
“Colorado got behind implementing federally mandated challenges and that has ended up costing quite a bit of money,” Pogue says. “The Federal government created some very well-meaning regulations around paying providers more, and the state hasn’t been able to allocate additional funds to pay for the implementation.”
This shortfall is already eating into local childcare funds, like the voter-approved Strong Futures fund with $2 million annually for childcare.
“It’s one of the hardest decisions we have had to make in a while,” Pogue says. “When you have to cut off C-CAP, that means it adds additional pressure in other places and the money won’t go as far.”
Pogue says low-income families are hit the hardest. Summit held out as long as it could.
“It is not just Summit,” Pogue says. “But we have been very careful with maintaining a reserve. We have a cushion a lot of counties don’t have.”
The good news: Local families already on C-CAP will not lose assistance.
The better news: Summit’s other childcare funds, including Strong Futures, have money available. Contact Summit County Health and Human Services or Early Childhood Options to learn what is available.